Purpose: The purpose of this project is to test potential long-term benefits of the integration of two prevention programs, Good Behavior Game and My Teaching Partner (GBG+MTP) for teachers who have recently entered the teaching profession. Results from the original IES efficacy trial show positive impacts on teacher practices and student behavior and achievement for teachers who are more distressed as they begin their teaching careers and also are assigned classrooms with high levels of disruptive behavior.

Project Activities: The research team will extend the original trial to examine longer-term effects for teachers and the students in their classrooms in subsequent years. The researchers will collect data at two additional time points (five- to seven-years after the initial training in GBG+MTP) to test effects of training on student behavior and achievement, teacher practices, and teacher attitudes and perspectives over time.

Products: Products include information about the long-term efficacy of GBG+MTP teacher training for new teachers and the costs for districts to provide this training. Dissemination products include briefs for interested school districts and practitioner conferences. The research team will also produce peer-reviewed publications and a final dataset.

Structured Abstract

Setting: The original trial was conducted in three high poverty urban school systems in Maryland.

Sample: The sample for this follow-up study consists of the 188 K to 3 teachers who were early in their teaching career when they participated in the original GBG+MTP trial.

Intervention: The GBG+MTP program combines two teacher training programs with additional classroom management practices through a three-day training with coaching over an academic year. My Teaching Partner (MTP) is a web-based, individualized coaching approach that supports teachers' interactions with students to enhance their engagement, motivation, and on-task behavior in the classroom. The Good Behavior Game (GBG) uses a game format to help teachers manage classroom behavior. Combined, the two programs support new teachers as they transition to teaching by highlighting the importance of high-quality teacher-student interaction to promote student engagement and learning (MTP) along with the value of creating group contingencies to promote on-task behavior and achievement motivation (GBG).

Research Design and Methods: The research team will collect data at two additional time points in two successive school years in the classrooms of the 188 early-career teachers who were randomized to condition (GBG+MTP or control) in the original IES efficacy trial.

Control Condition: Teachers randomly assigned to the control condition were not provided training, but they were given access to GBG+MTP web-based materials after the initial training.

Key Measures: The researchers will assess student behavior and academic achievement, through classroom observations, official school records of standardized testing and grades, and teacher ratings of academic performance and behavior. Teachers will report on their attitudes and perspectives on teaching. The researchers will assess teacher practices using the Classroom Assessment Scoring System.

Data Analytic Strategy: The researchers will use growth modeling to test for longer-term effects of the GBG+MTP training. They will test whether differential changes in teacher practice during the intervention period mediate effects five to seven years later for subsequent student cohorts. The researchers will test for moderation of the treatment effects based on initial classroom experience (high levels of disruptive behavior) and teacher characteristics (high levels of distress) to determine if the moderated effects identified in the original trial are maintained over time. They will explore secondary research questions regarding the effects of implementation fidelity and the interplay of teacher practices and attitudes for student outcomes and teacher retention.

Cost Analysis: The research team will estimate the costs of providing the GBG+MTP training as part of typical district-level new teacher induction, mentoring, and support over a school year. These estimates will be informed by the type and level of staffing needed for the three-day training, coaching over the first year, and technical support for the video recording and benchmarking that is part of the program.

Related IES Projects: Professional Development to Support New Teachers' Use of Effective Classroom Management Techniques (R305A130107)